Music

After Finally Rejoining Instagram, Jay-Z Is Now The Only Person Beyonce Follows

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With today’s prevalence of social media, it’s hard to imagine a celebrity who decisively stays off popular platforms like Instagram. Some artists like Lorde keep their accounts active but remain radio silent until they’re ready to roll out a new era of music. But other artists like Jay-Z managed to stay off Instagram altogether — until now. The rapper officially rejoined the platform this week to promote his upcoming work and was able to reach a major milestone: He’s now the only person followed by Beyonce on Instagram.

In less than 24 hours after Jay-Z relaunched his Instagram account, he’s already racked up nearly 2 million followers. One of those followers includes his wife, Beyonce — though he has quite a long way to go until he can compare to Beyonce’s follower count, which is at over 216 million. It will come as no surprise that Jay-Z reciprocated Beyonce’s follow and she is also the only person he’s following on the platform as well.

Jay-Z’s reason for rejoining the platform is quite simple. He’s there to promote his upcoming film, The Harder They Fall, of which he is the executive producer. It marks the first time the rapper has posted on the social media platform in nearly six years. Jay-Z did give Instagram a go back in 2015, but he promptly deleted his account just 14 hours later after he reportedly posted a photo of himself with Michael Jackson. It’s been almost 14 hours since Jay-Z relaunched his account, so it’s looking like it will have a greater longevity this time around.

Check out Jay-Z’s first Instagram post above.

Drake Wants A WNBA Team In Toronto

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If there are two things we know that Drake loves, it’s basketball and women. So it makes sense that he’d like to combine the two in his hometown with a franchise of the WNBA. Drake, who already has a role as ambassador for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, made his case on Instagram in the wee hours of the night, posting a single-frame Instagram Story reading, simply, “@WNBA, I need a Toronto team.”

This poses all kinds of fascinating possibilities. Would Drake be the owner? Would he want an ambassador role like the one he has with the Raptors? What would the team’s name be? You have to hope it wouldn’t be dinosaur-themed, as the Raptors’ entire concept came from the popularity of the original Jurassic Park the year of the team’s inception.

Furthermore, how would this affect the league as a whole? You’d think adding just one team would unbalance the season schedule quite a lot, so how many teams would be created in an expansion? Would there be an expansion draft? How would the talent in the W, which just went through a dramatic upheaval after solidifying a new CBA, be redistributed to provide parity?

For now, this is all just speculation and spitballing, but it would sure be fun to find out that the (much-needed) expansion is actually in the works. It’d probably be even more fun to see the self-declared Certified Lover Boy sitting courtside, cheering on favorites like Candace Parker, Chiney Ogwumike, and Aja Wilson, bringing some well-deserved publicity to the WNBA.

Congress Names November Hip-Hop History Month

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US Congress isn’t usually able to agree on much of anything but it looks like the legislative branch has found one thing that Democrats and Republicans won’t fight about: Hip-hop is universal. This November has been declared the inaugural Hip-Hop History Month thanks to a resolution (331) co-sponsored by New York Congressman Jamal Brown and California Congresswoman Maxine Waters. The language of the resolution was reviewed by the Universal Hip-Hop Museum Founder and President Rocky Bucano. UHHM is launching its “Know Ya Hop” campaign to commemorate the occasion.

In a statement from UHHM, Bucano explained his involvement, saying, “Back in July, I was asked by Congressman Jamaal Bowman to help review the language being used to create the Resolution designating August 11th as Hip-Hop Recognition Day and November as Hip-Hop History Month. Little did we know it would pass!”

Congressman Bowman also elaborated on his commitment to the resolution, recalling, “Hip Hop is my life. Hip-Hop saved my life. Hip-Hop gave me knowledge of self. Hip-Hop is who I am. The celebration of Hip-Hop history and the study of it is essential to our democracy, our innovation, our voice, and who we are as human beings. Hip Hop is an honest story of communities around the world and provides the opportunity to increase understanding and create a pathway forward for all of us.”

The Weeknd And Post Malone Are Linking Up For A New Song That’s Apparently Coming This Week

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Over the past few years, The Weeknd and Post Malone have been two of the most dominant figures in music. In fact, The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” became the song with the most weeks ever spent in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart last year, beating the previous record holder, Malone’s “Circles.” Now, the two industry titans are getting ready to team up on what is sure to be a hit.

Yesterday, they both shared a brief teaser of a new song. Dre London, Malone’s manager, also shared the clip and offered more info, revealing the track is called “One Right Now.” He wrote on Instagram, “What I couldn’t wait to tell the [world] This Friday!! I’m excited for u to finally here what I been talking about!! @postmalone & @theweeknd ‘One Right Now’ #DreVision in full effect!! #Shutdown Ting!!! Crazy Movie Video comes next week!!!”

If the song ends up being a hit, it will be Malone’s first in a while, relatively speaking. His last top-10 single was the Ozzy Osbourne- and Travis Scott-featuring “Take What You Want,” which peaked at No. 8 in 2019. Before that, it was the chart-topping “Circles.” As for The Weeknd, his latest single, “Take My Breath,” was successful, achieving a peak at No. 6.

Snoh Aalegra Is Taking ‘Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies’ On A North American Tour

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After making her fans wait a couple of years for her third body of work, Snoh Aalegra returned with Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies this past summer, and the singer did not disappoint. The project arrived complete with 14 songs and guest appearances from Tyler The Creator, Pharrell Williams, and James Fauntleroy. It also featured additional contributions from PJ Morton, Ant Clemons, Leon Thomas III, Terrace Martin, NO I.D., and more. Nearly four months after she released the album, Aalegra is ready to take Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies on tour.

Aalegra will hit the road starting on March 21, 2022, in Detroit and make several stops in major cities across the United States and Canada before bringing things to an end in Portland, Oregon on May 30, 2022. She made the announcement on her social media pages and confirmed that more dates would be added to the tour at a later date.

The announcement comes after Aalegra and Tyler The Creator teamed up in their video for “Neon Peach,” the third single off Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies.

You can view the full tour dates below and revisit our review of Temporary Highs In The Violet Skies here.

03/21 — Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
03/23 — Toronto, ON @ History
03/27 — Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
03/29 — New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
03/31 — Washington, DC @ The Anthem
04/02 — Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore
04/03 — Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
04/05 — Tampa, FL@ Jannus Love
04/06 — Miami, FL @ The Fillmore Miami Beach
04/09 — New Orleans, LA @ The Fillmore New Orleans
04/30 — Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center
05/01 — Dallas, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
05/03 — Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy
05/04 — Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
05/07 — Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
05/08 — Minneapolis, MN @ Armory
05/11 — Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
05/12 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex
05/27 — Vancouver, Canada @ Malkin Bowl
05/28 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
05/30 — Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Jay-Z Rejoins Instagram For The First Time In Years To Promote His Upcoming Film

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Jay-Z’s has long only been on two social media services: Facebook and Twitter, and he doesn’t use them that often. He once, during the summer of 2015, gave Instagram a try, but he only lasted about 14 hours, according to the NY Daily News, deleting his account after sharing a picture with Michael Jackson. Now, more than six years later, Jay is back on Instagram.

He rejoined the social media platform under the account name @jayz, there to promote his upcoming film The Harder They Fall, which he executive produced. As of 10:55 EST, Jay raked up more than 513,000 followers on Instagram, which will surely increase as more people become aware of his presence on the app.

During the London premiere for The Harder They Fall last month, Jay spoke about his passion for the film. “I’m super excited for Jeymes [Samuel], who’s actually from London,” he said. “Just the idea of him releasing his major debut, because he’s done film work and he’s done music. But for him to be releasing in London, a place where he’s from, it has to be a dream for him. So I’m super proud of my brother.”

In addition to co-executive producing the film, Jay has provided two songs to the movie’s soundtrack. The first is “My Guns Go Bang” with Kid Cudi and the second is “King Kong Riddim” with Conway The Machine, Jadakiss, and British rapper Backroad Gee.

Travis Scott Will Livestream His First Solo Set At Astroworld Exclusively On Apple Music

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Shortly after the release of his third album, Astroworld, in 2018, Travis Scott launched his very own festival under the same name in his hometown of Houston. He delivered two editions of the showcases, one in 2018, the other in 2019 before. The pandemic stopped a third one from happening in 2020. But the festival will be back this year, bowing at the end of the week. As an added treat, Scott announced his first solo set of the weekend will be livestreamed exclusively on Apple Music.

“Travis Scott’s Astroworld: Live” will stream in 167 countries on Friday, November 5 at 7 PM PST/ 10 PM EST, according to a press release. The announcement was made with a brief video that quickly recaps some of the most exciting moments from past Astroworld festivals.

In total, this weekend’s Astroworld Festival will feature performances from 21 Savage, Baby Keem, Bad Bunny, BIA, Chief Keef, Don Toliver, Earth, Wind & Fire, Houston All-Stars, Lil Baby, Master P, Roddy Ricch, Sheck Wes, Sofaygo, SZA, Teezo Touchdown, Toro Y Moi, Tame Impala, Young Thug, and Yves Tumor.

You can view the teaser video for the Astroworld livestream above.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

TDE’s MixedByAli Launched His Own Record Label And Said His First Artist Reminds Him Of Kendrick Lamar

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At the end of last year, TDE’s in-house engineer Derek “MixedByAli” Ali announced that he purchased Death Row Records, the iconic studio where rap legends like Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Tupac Shakur recorded classic records. He renamed it NoName Studios, after his newly-launched label, NoName Recordings, and quickly signed his first artist: Malik Moses, who recently released his new single, “Show Me Something” with Bas. Fresh off the singing, Ali explained what he liked most about his new artist.

“The way he was able to really catch my attention with his selection of beats, the way his production was laid out, the way his songwriting and just how he carried himself sonically, that reminded me of working with Kendrick [Lamar] and working with Thundercat and Terrace Martin,” Ali told Rolling Stone. “It gave me that same feeling instantly as soon as I heard the first four bars of his music, and that’s rare nowadays.”

Ali also spoke about his overall vision for NoName Recordings. “We just want our label to be that safe place where artists can create, artists can have that creative freedom,” he said. “I don’t hear of too many audio engineers starting ventures like this, so it’s a different perspective to bring into the industry, the perspective from somebody who’s in the trenches understanding how it works and the grind that it takes to really be successful.”

You can listen to Morris’ new single and read the full Ali’s full interview with Rolling Stone here.

An LGBTQ Organization Says They Were ‘Grossly Misquoted’ About Approving DaBaby’s Recent Set At Rolling Loud

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This past weekend, 50 Cent served as the headliner for the opening day of Rolling Loud’s New York Festival. 50 Cent brought out DaBaby during his headlining performance, a move that proved to be controversial, coming just three months after he made homophobic comments during his performance at Miami’s edition of Rolling Loud. Many raised an eyebrow at DaBaby’s appearance, but TMZ claimed a number of LGBTQ organizations have approved of it. However, one of the organizations said this is far from the case.

The publication claimed that Gwendolyn D. Clemons, CEO of Relationship Unleashed, which is an LGBTQ nonprofit organization, said that she and her fellow representatives approved of DaBaby’s appearance, as well as any other concerts he performs at in the future. TMZ added that Clemons said that she believes DaBaby understands the harm behind his comments after she met with him and more than a hundred organizations that advocate for the LGBTQ community. But in posts on Relationship Unleashed’s Instagram page as well as an interview with The Unleashed Voice Magazine, Clemons is saying she was “grossly misquoted.”

“Our organization stands on strong principles of being defenders of the LGBTQIA Community and nothing has changed,” the post read. “We will never normalize ‘trash TV or trash news stories!’ Today we were [engulfed] by the news outlet in a fire we did not start! Our comments to a brief question was grossly misquoted and intentionally framed in a click baiting headline to drive traffic to TMZ.”

They added, “We have written and repeatedly spoke with the News [Editor] @jacobwasserman to retract, correct, or delete this erroneous story. As of this time some modifications have been made but not enough to our satisfaction. We vehemently deny this assertion and the reporting does not align with our values or mission.”

Clemons’ full comments through The Unleashed Voice Magazine can be read here.

Cardi B Clarifies Her Comments About Lean And Weed Making Hip-Hop Repetitive

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Cardi B has stirred up a bit of controversy with her recent comments about hip-hop. During an Instagram Live conversation, the rapper confidently declared that her music is what “n****s is missing in the club.” She added, “Cause when I go to the club, that’s what n****s wanna hear. I feel like we keep hearing the same song over and over and over again.” She also explained how she believed weed consumption by some of her fellow rappers negatively affected the overall landscape of hip-hop.

“These rappers nowadays, all of them wanna die,” she said. “They all wanna die. All these n****s need to stop doing lean and smoking weed. You know, this the thing about these rappers, right? They get money and they start buying too much muthafu**in’ weed, and too much lean and they make that slow sh*t.”

Cardi later returned to Twitter to clarify her comments.

“I just want a balance sorry if I worded things wrong,” she wrote. “I just love music that drop hard and turn the club up like dreams & nightmare & First day out by tee grizzly. A perfect balance of rap and turn up.”

Meanwhile, Cardi is preparing to perform at the upcoming 2021 AMAs as well as guest appear on Summer Walker’s upcoming album, Still Over It.

Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.